Extract from ABC News
Mourners comfort each other after the deaths of Palestinian brothers Muhammad Muammar and Fahim Muammar. (AP: Majdi Mohammed)
Two brothers who were shot dead by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank last month are among a surging number of Palestinian victims of settler violence, which has run rampant and broadly unchecked since the start of Israel's war with Iran.
On March 2, a settler, driving a bulldozer, attempted to carve a new road through olive groves in the village of Qaryut, roughly halfway between the cities of Ramallah and Nablus.
The trees belong to the Palestinian residents, but locals told the ABC they are shot at if they try to enter the area.
While the Palestinian community insists it did not provoke the settlers, local media has reported stones were thrown at the driver.
Vision of the incident showed a group of settlers clambering up the hillside towards homes belonging to the Muammar family.
Some were armed with rocks, while at least one had a rifle.
Palestinian brothers Muhammad Muammar, 52, and Fahim Muammar, 48, who lived next door to each other, left their properties after hearing the settlers approach and can be seen involved in a scuffle, as a settler fires into the air.
Palestinian brothers Muhammad Muammar and Fahim Muammar were killed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. (ABC News: Daniel Pannett)
The pair then headed back towards their homes before they were shot, one in the head, the other in between his stomach and hip.
"Those settlers came here just to destroy our lives, and to force us to leave our houses," their brother Jamil told the ABC.
"I was shot in my leg, and my two brothers were martyred, and two more people were injured — one in the hand, the other in the shoulder."
The bullet is still lodged in Jamil's leg, and he needs crutches to walk.
The military and police arrived about two hours later, according to residents.
In a statement to the ABC, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said "the identity of the shooter is under investigation".
That is despite Israeli media reporting the man is a reservist, and has had his weapon confiscated.
"The IDF condemns this incident and views it with the utmost severity," it said.
Bashar Qaryouti holding shell casings from the scene of the shooting. (ABC News: Daniel Pannett)
One of the Muammar family’s homes, encased in steel fencing, with thick grills over the windows and smashed solar panels strewn on the ground, still bears the scars of a battle for existence.
Under the cover of regional conflict, Israelis who have established illegal settlements and outposts in the West Bank have become emboldened.
They expect — and often receive — protection from the Israeli military and police as they harass, intimidate and attack Palestinian communities with the intention of seizing land and property.
Sometimes, Palestinians argue the settlers and the soldiers are one and the same.
"We know there is no hope, [the police and military] will do nothing, we do not expect anything, even though there is a video showing the shooter," Jamil said.
Jamil Muammar uses a crutch to walk around after he was shot in the leg by Israeli settlers. (ABC News: Daniel Pannett)
Settlements and outposts in the West Bank
More than half a million Israeli settlers are living in more than 140 communities across the West Bank, and another 200,000 live in East Jerusalem.
Israel's occupation of the land is considered illegal under international law and it undermines hopes for any form of two-state solution in the Middle East.
But the establishment of settlements is broadly supported and encouraged by the Israeli government.
The Muammar family's village of Qaryut, north of Jerusalem, is surrounded by settlements and outposts, which are also considered illegal under Israeli law but are sometimes retrospectively approved.
One large Israeli settlement, Shiloh, was established in the late 1970s and sits to the south of the village. Another, Eli, is to the north west.
The main road to Qaryut, which navigation apps try to send vehicles down, has been blocked by mounds of earth and rubble placed there by settlers.
Israeli flags have been placed along the main road to Qaryut. (ABC News: Daniel Pannett)
Israeli flags have been placed along the road, and Palestinians are forced to take a significant detour to enter and exit the community.
In addition to those established settlements are a number of outposts — tents and camper trailers set up on hilltops overlooking the village, complete with what locals said are cameras monitoring their movements.
It is from these outposts that some of the most violent settlers launch their attacks.
"They are trying to connect the seven settlements on Qaryut land together, because Qaryut is in between, and it became an issue that makes the settlers and the occupation nervous," local anti-settlement activist Bashar Qaryouti said.
Bashar took the ABC to the site of the shooting, and pointed out a number of the outposts, which had sprung up in recent months.
Bashar Qaryout points to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. (ABC News: Daniel Pannett)
He said one group of five houses, on the outskirts of Qaryut, had already been totally surrounded by settlers and residents needed permission to enter and exit.
'The settlers' aggression is increasing'
Violence against the Palestinian community in the West Bank is not a new phenomenon, but there are grave fears Israeli settlers are using the cover of the Iran war to run riot across the occupied territory.
Just before the Jewish holiday of Passover, advocacy group Yesh Din said it had documented 305 instances of settler violence in the first 30 days of the war, across 139 different villages and towns.
Yesh Din said that at least 215 Palestinians were injured, including 10 who were killed.
"While in Israel people are marking the holiday of freedom in shelters, settler violence in the West Bank continues to run rampant," the organisation said.
"Words won't change anything; condemnations won't help. Violence is stopped through prevention and law enforcement.
"Israel has the ability to stop settler violence, but it is not interested in doing so. On the contrary, it benefits from its rotten fruits."
Israel's far-right support for settlers in the West Bank
Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition government — namely the national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich — have championed the efforts of settlers to take control of land in the West Bank.
Both live in settlements themselves.
Itamar Ben-Gvir (left) and Bezalel Smotrich (right) have championed the efforts of settlers to take control of land in the West Bank. (Reuters: Abir Sultan)
Mr Smotrich has denounced some of the recent wave of violence, but only because it endangers the entire settlement movement.
He has insisted it is a minority perpetrating the crimes, and that there are incidents where settlers need to engage in "self-defence" against Palestinians.
The finance minister said he is striving to "cancel the Oslo Accords", which divided the West Bank into three different areas of differing Palestinian and Israeli control.
Instead, he wants to "apply full Israeli sovereignty to all areas of the homeland".
That rhetoric is feared by Bashar Qaryouti, who also serves as the community's paramedic.
"The settlers are supported by ministers in the Israeli government," he said.
"The same minister, Ben Gvir — he is in charge of the police and [he] is supporting the settlers by giving them weapons and tractors."
He said they had exploited the war on Iran, because most of the world's media was "focused on the Iran-Israel war".
Late last month, a CNN crew was assaulted and detained by the IDF when reporting on another settler attack.
During that period, some of the soldiers were espousing pro-settler rhetoric and ideology on camera. The unit has since been suspended by the IDF's top brass.
"The settlers' aggression is increasing, and they're taking advantage of any security situation in the world to do their crimes," Mr Qaryouti said.
Violence comes amid passing of death penalty law
Mr Qaryouti feared the situation would only deteriorate further after Mr Gvir's widely condemned legislation was agreed to by the Knesset last week.
The law makes death by hanging the default for Palestinians convicted in Israel's military justice system of attacks against Israelis.
It also gives Israeli courts the authority to impose either the death penalty or life imprisonment on its citizens.
It is not retroactive, applying only to future cases, but the law marked the culmination of a years-long push by Israel's far right to escalate punishment for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offences against Israelis.
"Is it not enough that they are executing us inside our homes, in the streets, now they want the prisoners to face execution?" Mr Qaryouti asked.
"It will be so sad for the families and the relatives, and that might open the way to a very dangerous stage in the West Bank."
The Muammar family's children were playing in the yards around their homes, away from the olive groves, when the ABC visited Qaryut.
The Muammar family's children playing in the yards around their homes in the village of Qaryut. (ABC News: Daniel Pannett)
But Jamil said they were usually too scared to venture outside, worried they could be targeted by settlers tearing through the town.
Even despite the threat, and the immense loss the family has experienced recently, he remained defiant.
"We will not leave," he said.
"It's our land, but at the same time, no-one is defending us."
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